January 2010 Meeting Minutes

1.25.10 UHNA Neighborhood Association Meeting

Executive Committee

President: Arthur Silbert (Silbert@gmail.com)

Vice President: Brian Berger (doctaberga@yahoo.com)

Secretary: Scott Hardesty (scott.hardesty@earthlink.net)

Treasurer: Bobbie Munroe (bdmunroe@fraserfin.com)

Headcount

31 residents

Introduction of 2010 board & committee heads

Arthur introduced Board and Committee Heads that were elected at 11/09 meeting.

Welcome new neighbors

Jamie Hargather from Claremont St.

By-laws approval vote

Danny Moore and Eva Nason

21 UHNA residents voted in favor of approving the UHNA By-Laws.  Approval vote passed with 2/3 of the vote.

Beautification Committee

The chairman, Danny Moore, briefed on the following:

• Yard of the Month program planned.  Contact volberg@hotmail.com for details and suggestions.
• Send email to Danny with suggestions about neglected corners or common areas in the neighborhood that out need attention.

Important Health Message from Veterinarian, Brian Berger

Brian Berger informed neighbors about the spike in numbers of cases of pets with zoonotic disease.  Zoonotic diseases are caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between (or are shared by) animals and humans.  Please clean up after your dogs and monitor their behavior around other dogs.

Social Committee Update

Amy Panos is planning Spring Party, Holiday Party, First Friday’s and other events.  Contact Amy amympanos@gmail.com for ideas and to help out.

CSX Ethanol Unloading & Atlanta Oxygen Updates

Battalion Chief David Rhodes, Atlanta Fire Dept.  drhodes@atlanaga.gov

Chief of Inspections—Greg Favors at  gafavors@atlantaga.gov

CSX Ethanol Unloading

Battalion Chief, AFD, provided overview of ethanol and handling procedures.  Fire Station 8 is the Atlanta Hazmat Response Unit.

In general, ethanol is highly flammable but safely handled at rail yard.  If handled properly, ethanol is safe.  Ethanol fires are difficult to fight, particularly if mixed with water.   Chief Rhodes has worked at station that responds to rail yard for 10 years and hasn’t responded to any reports of misuse of ethanol at the rail yard.   The EPA imposes heavy fines for ethanol handling violations.

CSX offloads ethanol onto tractor trailer truck and stores in tank and mixed with fuel.  Railroad falls under Federal standards; local codes do not apply.  There is no local jurisdiction, similar to Whittier Mill mine.  CSX has been responsive on Hazmat side and has trained AFD on procedures.  The minimum evacuation procedures caused by ethanol spills (no more than 1 mile from site of incident).

Oxygen Vendor on DeFoor Place

Eva asked Batallion Chief Rhodes to brief residents on compressed gasses, similar to those used in home medical tanks.  Oxygen is a compressed gas and poses a certain danger if exposed to flame.  The potential hazard can be compared to an LP grill cylinder.

Stuart Gibson is owner of Atlanta Oxygen & Medical (AOM) at the corner of Defoor Pl. and Defoor Ave.  AOM is a home medical equipment company that delivers products to patients homes, including oxygen tanks.  Stuart stores about 70 portable tanks at the location and said that he has a permit from the City to do so.  The AFD audits similar facilities every year, including the Defoor location.  Stuart meets OSHA guidelines to store tanks at the closest point of entry to the building.  Stuart has been in business for 15 years. 

Zoning

Eva explained how the property has been zoned R-4 (residential) for decades, although the site has never been used for a home.  Stuart is asking the City to rezone the site to C1 (commercial).

As it is now, Stuart is out of code.  If the property does not conform to zoning use, the business cannot change, build onto, or change the property in any way.  Stuart can submit changes only if the zoning is changed to commercial.  The neighborhood worked very hard to maintain R4 zoning down DeFoor from Taylor past Davis.

Sixteen (16) residents approved motion to deny rezoning property to C1; six (6) residents opposed

Approval vote for funding of playgroup, senior, church

Bobbie Munroe

• Last year, 38% revenue from partners and sponsors; $6,600 in expenditures last year
• 122 households contributed dues, out of about 500 homes in neighborhood.
• 30 attendees voted to continue to fund playgroup, senior and church funds.

Crime Watch Update

Arthur provided the update in Grayson’s absence.  He recommended that residents sign up for UHNA Discuss to report suspicious activity and increase awareness of crime issues.  He urged residents to call 911 first–the City is structured to take these calls.

UHNA Communications Survey

A team from Georgia State University MBA program is performing a communication audit for UHNA to analyze the communication process UHNA uses to increase awareness and participation at quarterly neighborhood association meetings.  The six-member audit team will highlight the challenges and opportunities of the process, and offer recommendations that can increase the effectiveness of the UHNA strategy.

The audit team was on hand to ask residents to complete a survey, which is one part of the process to collect feedback.  Look for an invitation from a member of the UHNA Leadership Team inviting you to take an online survey, similar to the one from the meeting.

Traffic Committee Update

Barry Rolland

• Number one priority is to clean up intersection at DeFoor and Harper (restriping of intersection).

Park

Jenna Schuh

• Brick campaign update; 17 bricks sold so far for $100 each.  October and March park clean-ups scheduled for 2010.
• Planted over 1,000 daffodils in park circle and transplanted daffodils from Johnson Wholesale Flooring.
• Use Service Sorority from Georgia Tech at park clean ups.  Park clean-ups are on the website calendar (www.underwoodhills.org)
• 200 people showed up for Puppies and Pancakes event last year.
• Checks written for brick campaign are tax deductible
• Want to use $1,700 to build low, deck in back behind tire swing; include swinging benches and plan area adjacent to the tennis courts.